Sutradara Terbaik (Independent Spirit Award)

1980an

• 1985: Joel Coen – Blood Simple / Martin Scorsese – After Hours
  • Joyce Chopra – Smooth Talk
  • Peter Masterson – The Trip to Bountiful
• 1986: Oliver Stone – Platoon †
  • Jim Jarmusch – Down by Law
  • David Lynch – Blue Velvet
  • Rob Reiner – Stand by Me
  • Oliver Stone – Salvador
• 1987: John Huston – The Dead
  • Jonathan Demme – Swimming to Cambodia
  • Tim Hunter – River's Edge
  • Jim McBride – The Big Easy
  • John Sayles – Matewan
• 1988: Ramon Menendez – Stand and Deliver
  • David Burton Morris – Patti Rocks
  • Errol Morris – The Thin Blue Line
  • Oliver Stone – Talk Radio
  • John Waters – Hairspray
• 1989: Steven Soderbergh – Sex, Lies, and Videotape
  • Jim Jarmusch – Mystery Train
  • Charles Lane – Sidewalk Stories
  • Nancy Savoca – True Love
  • Gus Van Sant – Drugstore Cowboy